


A New Family

by Noppoh



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dark Rey, F/M, Gang Violence, Non-Graphic Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-30 03:05:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14487447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noppoh/pseuds/Noppoh
Summary: After years of silence, Ben has a chance encounter with Rey. But will she be the same person he remembers?





	A New Family

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Starlight217](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starlight217/gifts).



> "Written as part of the Reylo Fanfic Recs 'Rewrite the Stars Fest' for the prompt below given by Starlight"
> 
> Prompt:  
> "No one is ever truly gone." Luke to Leia  
> Modern AU where Rey is the dark one and Ben is chasing her. The line is said about Rey.
> 
> Major thanks to SirenBanshee for being such an amazing and wonderful beta!

Ben walked into the pub. Noticing he was the first to arrive, he walked towards one of the free tables. He hung his jacket over the back of a chair as he surveyed the other patrons. Near the window was a couple holding hands—they seemed oblivious to the rest of the world. Not far from them were four elderly men drinking pints and playing cards in a booth. Every now and then, one of them would glance towards the bar. 

Following their glances, his eyes landed on a tight-knit group of people about his age. They were a tough-looking bunch even though they weren't doing much—just chatting amongst themselves and entertaining some drinks. He eyed each individual and did a double-take as the one sitting nearest to him seemed familiar. 

_ It couldn't be! _

She was wearing a jean jacket with several patches and metal studs sewn on them. Her black, skinny jeans led to a pair of sturdy combat boots. The once brown hair was now dyed black. Despite it all, he recognised her. He abandoned his seat and walked over. 

"Rey Doe?"

Her shoulders stiffened and she slowly turned her head towards him. Large rings adorned her ears and her nose was pierced. Both her eyes were heavily surrounded with kohl. The look she gave him was anything but friendly. Behind her, Ben could see her friends shift to regard him.

"Rey Doe? Is it really you?"

"Kirri," she answered. "Rey Kirri." Her tone made it clear he was not to make that mistake a second time. "And who must you be?"

"You don't recognise me? It's Ben! From high school."

For a moment, her eyes seemed to flash, before turning cold and uninterested. "What do you want?" 

The message to get lost was clear and the people behind her turned in his direction, obviously watching out for her. Ben was about to respond when Hux walked through the door. The ginger took stock of the situation and paled significantly. He rushed over to them and grabbed Ben's shoulder, inserting himself between him and Rey.

"My apologies," Hux said to the group. "My friend is new in town."

Perplexed, Ben didn't think to protest as Hux almost violently pushed him away.

"What were you thinking?" he asked abruptly as they sat down at the table Ben had chosen earlier. "What were you doing talking to them? You're in town for what? Half a day? And you're already seeking trouble?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Ben answered, confused. "That girl closest to us is Rey. You know? The friend from high school I told you about? I finally have a chance to talk to her again, Hux, and you pull me away? I didn't think I would ever see her again!"

"That's Rey?" Hux glanced over his shoulder. "Whoever she is and whatever she means to you, man, stay away! That group she belongs to? They're part of the Hara Kirri gang."

"The what?"

"The Hara Kirri gang. They practically rule the underground in this city. They're dangerous, you have no idea. They got their name from the way they kill their opponents—a  knife in the stomach and then left to die. You really don't want to get involved with them."

"But then, what is Rey doing with them?"

"No idea, man, but forget about the girl. It's for the better, believe me!"

"You must be mistaken," Ben stated while abruptly getting up. He ignored Hux as he hissed at him to stop. 

"Rey," he greeted the woman again.

She sighed and turned towards him with an irritated flick of her hair. He wasn't deterred by the threatening look she gave him.

"Rey."

With a movement too quick for him to follow, a knife sprung into her hand and was pressed against his neck. The group behind her reacted much the same, hands going into pockets and eyes narrowing towards him.

She cocked her head to the side, giving him a dark sort of smile. "Ben Solo, I remember you. Rich kid. A bit of a mommy's boy, weren't you?" 

He swallowed. "Rey Doe, it is you, isn't it? What are you doing?"

Ben couldn't prevent his flinch as the razor-sharp edge of the blade dug into his skin. He realised he had greatly misjudged the situation, noticing how the bartender had retreated to the far-side of the bar and seeing how Hux was hovering nearby, looking horribly anxious.

"Kirri!" Rey menacingly hissed at him. "I don't know why the devil decided to put you in my path again, but I suggest you keep out of my way."

The fury and anger in her eyes and voice shocked him. She was nothing like he remembered her, nothing at all. The door to the bar opened and someone whistled. Just as abruptly as it had appeared, the knife was gone. The entire group of gang members packed their belongings and walked away. With a final sneer, Rey turned to follow them. Ben contemplated grabbing Rey's arm but thought better of it. He watched her walk out of the bar, thoroughly shocked.

"Have you gone completely crazy?" Hux shouted as soon as they were gone. The bartender and the four elderly men nodded in agreement. "What would you have done if you became a target? If the company would find out, you would be fired before you even started!"

Ben turned to his friend. " _ That _ notorious?"

"Yes, that notorious! Ever heard of the Japanese Yakuza? That notorious!"

"Oh." Slightly dazed, Ben walked back to sit down in his chair.

"I don't know what they were doing here, though," Hux continued, contemplating. "This pub is a bit too fancy for their usual taste."

"Tell me about them," Ben spoke up. "Where  _ do _ they frequent?"

"Oh no! No, no, no! If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, I will not go along with that plan! I'm telling you, forget about her!"

"You know I can't, Hux. Just tell me."

xXxXxXx

Rey was sitting in a dark corner of the gang's headquarters, hidden in the shadows, just how she liked it. The bar—if  you could call it that—was where she drank, ate, and slept; a small room upstairs had been her home ever since she joined.

She had quickly become one of the gang's scavengers—a member that sniffed out deals, or people who owed them money. It was a rough life, but at least it guaranteed three meals a day.

As the door opened, Rey looked up to see a tall figure silhouetted against the bright sunlight. The figure walked in and Rey cringed in recognition. His expensive clothes stood out like a sore thumb in the rundown atmosphere of the bar. 

He looked around the room as the door closed behind him. Most of the members present were staring, but if he was bothered by it, he hid it well. With confidence, he strode towards the bar. At the same time, Rose slid into the bench beside Rey.

"Isn't that the guy from the other day?"

Rey merely nodded in response and watched Ben lean on the counter to address Charlotte. 

"I'm looking for Rey Doe?"

Rose patted Rey's shoulder as she started to grumble. "I swear! If he says that name one more time, he'll find a knife stuck in his body in a most inconvenient place."

"I don't know a Rey Doe," Charlotte answered Ben without looking up.

"A Rey Kirri then." He scrunched up his nose, as if saying the name physically hurt him.

Tension rose as a silence fell over the room. Rey sighed and stood, knowing full well that the gang would send him away if she didn't want to speak to him but also remembering Ben's tenacity. He would come back, no doubt.

"What do you want?" she barked at him.

"Rey," he said, "I just... What happened?"

"Well, Ben," she sneered, "I found myself a family." She threw her arms open and was met with cheers from her friends.

Ben looked around. "You can't be serious."

"Well, obviously, I am," Rey retorted. "You don't belong here, Ben. I think it's best you left."

"But—"

"The woman told you to leave," Poe spoke up. "So I suggest you do just that."

Ben seemed to finally pick up on the hostile environment. With a last, pleading look at Rey, he backed out of the bar. As soon as the door closed behind him, the tension left the room and the chatter and games picked up again.

"Who is he?" Poe asked her. "Not  _ him _ ?"

Rey nodded. Poe was the one who had found her and given her a place amongst the gang members. He was one of the few to know her entire story. "Yes," she answered, " _ him _ ."

Poe growled. "What does the asshole want?"

She shrugged. "Don't know, don't care."

xXxXxXx

The first meeting with Rey had bothered him; the second bothered him even more. That wasn't the girl he remembered from high school. That girl had been sweet, kind. Someone who loved to laugh and whom you could depend on. This Rey, however, was hard and rough. What had happened?

First, Ben thought Hux must have gotten things wrong. Even when the knife had drawn blood from his throat, he had denied his friend's words. He had gone to the Hara Kirri bar to prove Hux was wrong, only to find he was right. It was as if their friendship meant nothing to her anymore; Rey had said as much. She didn't even want to talk to him.

"Ben, son, what's wrong? You've been picking at your food all evening."

Ben's head shot up, remembering he was at his parents’ for a family dinner, celebrating his return to the city after spending several years at Naboo College for a master's degree and a doctorate.

"I ran into Rey when I met Hux earlier this week," he supplied, his eyes returning to his mistreated dinner.

"Rey Doe?" Leia asked.

"Kirri, Rey Kirri," he answered absentmindedly.

"The girl you were so infatuated with at high school?" Han asked.

"Wait, Kirri?" Uncle Luke interrupted. "As in, Hara Kirri?"

Ben grimaced. Of course Luke would know about them; he was a cop after all.

"The one and only," Ben answered dully.

"The  _ gang _ Hara Kirri?" Han slowly shook his head. "You don't want to get caught up in any of their business, son."

"You mean that sweet girl ended up in the Hara Kirri gang?" Leia concluded.

"Yes," Ben said, despondent. "She doesn't want to talk to me. I wondered for so long what happened to her, and now that I meet her again, she's hard as a rock and doesn't want to have anything to do with me. I feel like I've lost her somehow." He buried his head in his hands.

"No one is ever truly gone, son," Leia said softly. Ben glanced up at her. "If you want to reconnect, keep on trying."

"Just," Han interceded, "try not to get yourself killed in the process."

"Han Solo!" Leia barked. The man in question grimaced while Luke rolled his eyes. "Stop that nonsense at once! You will support your son."

"Yes, general," Han replied meekly, winking at Ben.

"And get that cocky look off your face!"

Ben sighed and left his parents to their bickering, instead turning to Luke. "Do you think you can find out where she lives?"

"Ben..."

"I know, I know, abuse of power, etc. I could only try."

xXxXxXx

Rey was in the backroom, training and sparring with Poe, when Rose walked in and called out to her.

"What's up?" Rey asked, wiping sweat from her forehead.

"He's back."

"What? Who?" Even though she asked, Rey feared she already knew the answer.

"The tall guy with the broad shoulders and impossibly wavy hair? If it wasn't so obvious he looks down on us, I would kinda dig him. He's good looking!"

"Rose! You have a boyfriend!"

"I don't mind being shared." They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Right," Rey finally said. "I'd better get out there, before he gets himself killed by insulting one of the boys."

With a sigh, she dropped the towel into the 'used' basket and headed to the front. True enough, Ben Solo was waiting at the bar, again looking massively out of place. 

"Wasn't I clear enough?"

His head snapped her way. "Rey. I- I just want to talk to you."

"Then talk."

"In private."

She sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes before stalking out the door and to the concrete parking lot in front of the building. Ben closely followed. Rey swirled around and planted her hands on her hips, the bandages she had wrapped around her hands and forearms for training adding nicely to the fight that was evident in her eyes.

"Talk! You've got five minutes."

"Rey." 

He halted and dragged his hand through his hair. It was a move she knew so well, a nervous habit he picked up when he let his hair grow out back when he was 15.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"I already told you that."

"This place isn't good for you."

Rey raised an eyebrow. "Who are you to judge?"

"You've changed."

"Apparently, you haven't."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Rey merely gave him a nasty smile.

"I want to help you."

"Well, doesn't that sound familiar? One would even think I heard it before."

The bitter tone of her voice surprised Ben. "What? Why are you like this? I only want to help."

"Help?" she shouted at him. "You want to  _ help _ ? Tell me, Ben, where were you when I needed help before, huh? Where were you when I got evicted from my studio right after summer break started? Where were you when I subsequently lost my job because Plutt didn't want to have a hoe in his diner, since that would be the only way I would ever be able to have a bed to sleep in at night? Where were you when I slept in the streets? When I was starving? Oh, right! You were traipsing around the world!

"And to think I hoped you would come find me when I didn't show up at Uni campus as we agreed. I watched the front of my old apartment building for days, hoping I would see you. But did you show? No! You left me! That's how much I meant to you.

"All those pretty words about helping me through Uni. All those promises about staying together. Meaningless! Did you find yourself a good fuck somewhere on your travels? Did she make you forget all about me? Was I worth that little? Well, apparently, I was. So go fuck yourself! And fuck your help! If Poe hadn't found me, if the gang hadn't taken mercy on me, I would have died in the gutter!"

Ben took a couple of steps back, his face pale and his eyes wide. "Rey. I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? SORRY? What good does that do me?"

"I- I didn't know. I tried to call you but you never picked up or returned my calls. I asked Uncle Luke to check your apartment—he's a cop—but he told me you no longer lived there. You disappeared. I thought  _ you  _ left  _ me. _ "

"I traded my phone for a sandwich, you asshole!"

"What else could I have done?" Ben suddenly roared.

"You could have tried harder! You could  _ not  _ have given up on me! But you left me! You didn't care after all!" She took a deep breath and straightened. "At least the gang will never leave me. They are  _ loyal _ to their members. Fuck off, Ben Solo. I never want to see your face again."

She walked past him, back inside the pub and straight to the back. The look in her eyes made everybody move out of her way. 

"Poe!" she yelled as she reached the training mats.

He turned to her and a wicked grin spread across his face. "Even like that, you won't be able to beat me, little scavenger."

"We'll see about that!" she growled, raising her hands and taking a swing at him.

xXxXxXx

Rey slowly relaxed when Ben didn't return after her outburst in the parking lot. She hated to admit that his reappearance in her life had shaken her up. Those dark days on the street were not something she liked to be reminded of.

A knock on the door startled her. "Enter," she said, closing the book she had been reading.

When Charlotte entered, Rey quickly stood and respectfully inclined her head. Even though Charlotte was the one manning the bar, waiting the hosts, and cleaning the glasses, she was the one calling the shots. As head of this sector of the city, all decisions went through her.

"Pretty boy is back," Charlotte said.

"What?" Rey asked dumbly, hoping she had heard wrong.

"Your pretty boy is back. He's downstairs, asking for you. What do you want to do?"

Rey clenched her teeth, her eyes narrowing. She couldn't believe his absolute refusal to back down! Had she not been clear enough?

"Show him what happens when you mess with the Hara Kirri," she growled.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, just, don't kill him."

Charlotte nodded and left. Rey grinned as she heard a commotion in the bar below her. She moved to the window and saw Ben being thrown out onto the rough concrete. Her grin grew wider as she noticed Poe and Paige—Rose's sister—among the gang members that filed out. Both were hitmen for the gang, the best fighters they had.

Ben scrambled up and looked around, bewildered. She saw him talking, raising his hands as if to calm the people surrounding him. It was Poe who lunged first. Ben tried to fight back. Even from her window, Rey could see the muscles in his neck and arms strain in an attempt to defend himself. He never stood a chance.

Detached, she watched as Ben finally crumbled under the assault. Her friends did a thorough job beating him up, punches and kicks where it would hurt the most. They were not street kids getting in a petty fight; they were experts at what they did.

Eventually, they pulled him up and roughly threw his limp body against the side of his car. He crumbled to the ground, bloodied and bruised but still breathing and moving pitifully. With a huff, Rey turned away from the window and returned to the bed and her book.

Her life was a hard one, but at least she knew for certain that the gang would never betray her. He got what he deserved. She had a family now, and Ben Solo was not—and never would be—a part of it. With an angry movement, she wiped away the sole tear that escaped her eyes.


End file.
